Even though 77 % of EU citizens would rather have their products fixed than replaced by new [1], too many electronics, textiles and furniture items still get dumped. This is a missed opportunity for the environment and the creation of local meaningful jobs in the EU. We all have a 30-year-old washing machine in mind that our grand-parents still use because, “well, it still works”, while ours is already falling […]
Once again, the Conference of the Parties (COP) is meeting to discuss advancements in adapting to and mitigating climate change, including measures to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. In spite of the different countries’ efforts, the recently published Emissions Gap Report shows that global CO2 emissions have gone up in 2017 for the first time […]
22 – 23 November, over 80 participants from 20 countries gathered in Nijmegen, Europe’s Green Capital 2018, to discuss the role of social enterprise in a circular economy. The event, RREUSE’s 2nd international conference, tackled how to make re-use a natural and convenient choice for consumers and encourage public, private and social enterprises to collaborate closely in the field. With the private sector getting increasingly interested in take-back, repair and […]
Between 17 – 24 November 2018, 38 re-use centres in Croatia, Italy, Netherlands and Spain took part in RREUSE’s annual ‘Re-use More Throw Less’ campaign in order to communicate the environmental impact of our consumption and the potential of re-use and repair for waste prevention. Every day each re-use centre weighed items collected and items sold for re-use in their second-hand shops. Adding together these weights represented saved natural resources: […]
Social enterprises active in re-use, repair and recycling greatly contribute to making the European Pillar of Social Rights a reality. By creating local green jobs and training opportunities for individuals at risk of socio-economic exclusion, they provide a compelling model for an inclusive circular economy. Download the poster (pdf)
RREUSE is pleased to announce that it has been selected to join an expert group on social economy and social enterprises lead by DG GROW and DG EMPL which will run for a six year period. The group is a successor of the Commission’s Expert Group on Social Entrepreneurship (GECES) set up as part of the actions of the Social Business Initiative launched by the Commission in 2011. This is […]
2nd International RREUSE conference: Making the circular economy attractive, convenient and inclusive 22 – 23 November 2018 Nijmegen, Netherlands How was it? Read the summary article here Encouraging citizens, companies and governments to think second-hand first is not easy. We all want to move towards a circular economy but is it possible without changing our behaviour? Can awareness about the social and environmental value of re-use […]
1 – 3 October 2018 Bilbao, Spain On 2nd October RREUSE will showcase collaboration between its members and local, regional and national authorities at the Global Social Economy Forum 2018. We are glad to be invited to speak about socially responsible regions in a region that is itself known for its tradition in promoting social economy. We also invite you to the intervention of our Spanish member AERESS, the […]
3 – 5 October 2018 Nijmegen, Netherlands RREUSE will be facilitating a workshop on supporting social enterprises through public procurement at the international conference gathering experts on on sustainable, circular and innovative procurement ECOPROCURA 2018. On 4th October we will talk about the use of social clauses in public tenders during the session on ‘supporting local economies and communities through social procurement’. After presenting RREUSE’s members’ experience with social […]
Today, on 12 September 2018, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission delivered his speech on the State of the Union. RREUSE welcomes the Commission’s efforts to contribute to job creation and deliver not only promises but also results. However, more importance should be placed on offering employment opportunities for the disadvantaged, such as long-term unemployed, disabled, low-skilled or marginalised persons. Social enterprises offer training and jobs that significantly […]